Public Service/Volunteering
Georgia Retired Educators Set Benchmark for Community Involvement
News Release
August 18, 2004
State Receives Highest NRTA Recognition for Working with Youth
Georgia's veteran educators do not have "retirement" on their minds.
For the first time in NRTA's history of recognizing retired teachers for their community volunteer efforts, NRTA: AARP's Educator Community has honored an individual state for exceptional volunteer service on the state, county and individual levels.
Members of the Georgia Retired Educators Association received the "2004 NRTA With Our Youth Award" for Exceptional Merit. Georgia's retired educator volunteers reached more than 15,000 youth across the state.
NRTA began presenting volunteer retired educator awards in 2000. Since the program began, retired educators have given over than 45 million service hours more than 2,000 communities, reaching well over 1.5 million youth. Community service activities range from statewide literacy programs to innovative conflict resolution programs for youth. This year more than 40 states participated in the With Our Youth program.
Georgia won for its exceptional work in the state, local and individual categories:
State Award
Statewide Essay Contest for Fifth Graders
The Georgia Retired Educators Association and Georgia AARP sponsored an essay contest for fifth graders statewide. During the school year, 54 schools and over 2,300 students participated. This year's topic explored an experience with a grandparent or grandparent model. Teachers gave the assignments and collected the papers; the Georgia Retired Educators read the entries and chose the winners.
County Awards
Retired Educators Dedicate 4,000+ Hours to Cobb-Marietta Youth
More than 1,000 community members were served by the Cobb-Marietta Retired Educators Association.
Volunteers worked in schools and libraries, donated supplies, helped medically fragile children as well as children learning English as a second language. Volunteer kept communications open between schools and families.
10,000 Gwinnett Youth Learn Conflict Resolution Skills and More
Gwinnett County Retired Educators presented the national program "Hands Are Not For Hitting" - an interactive puppet show. Volunteers also tutored, mentored, read and told stories, performed vision and hearing screenings and conducted mock job interviews. Retired volunteers reached a total of 10,000 children.
2,000 Washington County Youth Helped by Retired Educators and Their Community Partners
Washington County Retired Educators Association volunteers served fatherless children who needed a positive male role model and Head Starters who needed to learn about dental care and good nutrition, among others. The organization partnered with local churches and The Negro Business and Professional Women's Club, the Air Force Junior ROTC and The Optimist International Club.
Individual Award:
"One-of-a-Kind" from Troup County
Ida Florine Tarver Jones, of the Troup Retired Educators Association serves on the boards of the La Grange Symphony Orchestra and the La Grange International Friendship Exchange, chairs the Optimist Club annual essay contest, works with the Georgia Sheriff's Youth home, is on the Homeless Council at her church and some days, reads to six classes per day.
"We are very pleased with the level of commitment our volunteers are giving nationwide within their communities," said NRTA Director Annette Norsman. "As working educators they made such a difference in the lives of young people. We fondly refer to them as the 'architects of social impact' and are glad to see that they are still building up young people's lives."
Additional NRTA With Our Youth! Awards for Excellence:
Florida State Retired Teachers Association for a statewide literacy and community service projects logging over 1 million volunteer service hours. For the first time, more than half of the students who took the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test are reading at or above grade level; Hastings Area Retired Teachers Association, Hastings, Nebraska for their support of the "Read, Read, Read, Everybody needs to Read program" with 65 volunteers logging more than 10,000 total hours; Southwest Retired Teachers Association/Slope Area Retired Teachers Association, North Dakota for their efforts with community partners to battle cold winters with homemade quilts for disabled youngsters, healthcare center and shelter babies, correctional center and boys' home youth among other activities; Don Slater, Manhattan, Kansas, for entering his tenth year of service with Hand to Hand, an evening K-12 tutoring center for at-risk youth;
Germaine Kresser Dietsch, Woody Creek, Colorado, for founding Spellbinders, a national non-profit volunteer storytelling program which last year reached more than 2,700 classrooms and close to 140,000 children; Larry Wagoner, Klamath Falls, Oregon, for helping learning disabled K-6th graders develop coordination and water safety skills through a YMCA class every Friday for the past10 years.
About AARP
AARP is a nonprofit, nonpartisan membership organization dedicated to making
life better for people 50 and over. We provide information and resources; engage
in legislative, regulatory and legal advocacy; assist members in serving their
communities; and offer a wide range of unique benefits, special products, and
services for our members. These include AARP The Magazine, published bimonthly;
AARP Bulletin, our monthly newspaper; AARP Segunda Juventud, our quarterly publication for Hispanic members; NRTA Live and Learn for National Retired Teachers Association members;
and our Web site, www.aarp.org. We have staffed
offices in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S.
Virgin Islands.
About NRTA
Founded in 1947 by retired educator Dr. Ethel Percy Andrus, NRTA: AARP's Educator Community, is a division of AARP. NRTA members share a commitment to learning, voluntary service, and civic participation. NRTA is the largest national organization that represents the interests of 50+ educators, with a membership of more than one-million active and retired higher-ed and K-12 educators and school personnel at the local, state and national level. The NRTA Network includes a national office in Washington, DC, 53 state and city associations, and more than 2,700 local associations. NRTA members are dedicated to continuous educational opportunity, advocacy, and service as a means of safeguarding the economic security, work opportunities, and future well-being of all generations. Visit NRTA's Website at www.aarp.org/nrta for more information.